Abstract

MARTIN MORENO, Vicente; GOMEZ GANDOY, Juan Benito  and  ANTORANZ GONZALEZ, María Jesús. Body fat estimated by bioelectrical impedance, skinfold thickness and anthropometric equations. A comparative analysis. Rev. Esp. Salud Publica [online]. 2001, vol.75, n.3, pp.221-236. ISSN 2173-9110.

Background: There is growing clinical interest in estimating body fat percentages (%FM). The aim of this study was a comparison of body fat measurement by anthropometric equations, skinfold thickness (SFT) and bioelectrical impedance (BIA) methods. Methods: Cross-sectional study. 149 healthy individuals (83 males and 66 females) were recruited. Height, weight, waist circumference, skinfold of biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac regions, sum and log₁₀ sum of four folds were obtained. %FM were calculated using the Siri equation (for sex or age-sex), Brozeck (sex or age-sex), Deurenberg, Lean and segmental BIA (Omron BF 300®). Methodological differences among the various methods were analyzed with Spearman (SCC) and intraclass (ICC) correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman method. The reference method is the Siri-age-sex equation. Results: The means of %FM were 26.8 ± 8.3% (Siri-age-sex), 25.7 ± 8.1% (Siri-sex), 25.97 ± 7.6% (Brozeck-age-sex), 24.9 ± 7.5% (Brozeck-sex), 25.6 ± 8.8% (BIA), 28.6 ± 8.2% (Deurenberg), 29.7 ± 8.2% (Lean-waist circumference) and 29.4 ± 9.3% (Lean-triceps-waist). The %FM values for all methods were highly intercorrelated (all SCC > 0.83 and CCI > 0.85). Brozeck-age-sex (average difference 0.8%; limits of agreement -0.48 to 2.08%) and BIA (1.17%; -6.21 to 8.55%) show the best agreement according to Bland and Altman analysis with Siri-age-sex equation. Conclusions: Deurenberg and Lean equations provide different body fat mass estimates than those derived from SFT measurement and BIA and thus should not be used interchangeably. The use of Siri-Brozeck equations is recommended for %FM assessment. The results suggest that segmental BIA-Omron BF 300® may be a valid alternative method.

Keywords : Body composition; Bioelectrical impedance analysis; Segmental BIA; Body fat; Anthropometry; Skinfold thickness.

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